About this time last year, after North Carolina was left dangerously thin in the frontcourt by the transfer of the Wear twins, Tar Heels basketball coach Roy Williams pulled a rabbit out of his hat by bringing in Justin Knox from Alabama as a one-year graduate student.

Tuesday, new N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried found himself in a similar predicament in his backcourt when freshman point guard Ryan Harrow announced his intention to leave the Wolfpack.

It’s a blow softened by the fact that shooting guard Lorenzo Brown has experience playing the point and should be accomplished enough to handle the role next season. But with no one else around to back him up, Gottfried has been forced to scramble in hopes of finding a competent secondary ballhandler – just in case.

The question is, given the timing and the circumstance, is there someone like Justin Knox out there available for State?

“Probably not,” said recruiting expert Dave Telep. “I just don’t think there are any point guards capable of competing in the ACC left out there.”

Knox

Unless a graduate student looking to play one final year at another school emerges suddenly, that means Gottfried will either have to look to the junior college ranks or bite the bullet and try to find a backup point guard from a group that includes incoming freshman Jaquan Raymond, and small forwards Scott Wood and C.J. Williams.

The good news is that newly hired assistant coach Rob Moxley has strong JUCO ties from his days at Charlotte.

But even at that, Moxley and Gottfried are going to have to work quickly if they decide to go that route and sign a serviceable two-year player.

According to Brad Winton of the web site Jucorecruting.com, the number of players that fit the Wolfpack’s needs is dwindling fast. And most have already taken recruiting visits and have narrowed their lists down.

Of course, the opportunity to play in the ACC could change some minds. Among the most realistic candidates are:

Mason

Josh Mason (State College of Florida-Manatee): At 6-foot-4, Mason is a long, athletic point guard who is best when getting out in transition. He averaged 12.5 points, 5.5 assists and 7.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore this season. He’s also a decent defender with a 6-11 wingspan and a 40-inch vertical leap. He’s getting most of his interest from mid-majors such as Canisius, Austin Peay and Florida A&M.

Hayes

Lonnie Hayes (Missouri State-West Plains CC): A first-team NJCAA All-America, Hayes is a 6-0 playmaker who averaged 18 points and 4.0 assists per game in leading his team to the No. 1 ranking among JUCOs for most of the season. He’s a tough kid who at one time was getting looks from teams in the Big 12 and the Mountain West. But most interest now is coming from mid- and low-major programs, perhaps because of his history of bouncing around to different schools during his career.

Lipkins

Terrell Lipkins (Northland, Minn., CC): Lipkins averaged 27 points and 6.3 assists per game, but he would be a major gamble for several reasons. There’s his size. He’s only 5-10. There’s the fact that he played at a Division III junior college in Minnesota against questionable competition. Then there’s the fact that he still needs to attend summer school to graduate with his associate’s degree. That shouldn’t be a problem, since he carries a 2.6 GPA. But he still has six more hours to complete, so you just never know.